Davis seems to know the answer before he asks

House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers yesterday asked the FBI director to turn over notes he made about an unusual 2004 late night visit to the hospital bed of the former attorney general by White House officials. (The hottest Hill story right now is why then-White House counsel Alberto Gonzales and then-White House chief of staff Andy Card went to see an ailing Attorney General John Ashcroft, and whether Gonzales lied about it to Congress.)

The reason Conyers found out that the notes even existed was because of questioning by Rep. Artur Davis of FBI Director Robert Mueller in a committee hearing yesterday.

But look at how Davis phrased the question. It suggests that he already knew such notes existed. What do they say, that good prosecutors always know the answer to the question before they ask it? Check it out:

DAVIS : Well, do you remember -- that certainly strikes me as unusual. You're the FBI director. A senior official calls you and says, "Make sure that I'm not evicted from the room," and I'm sure that must have struck you as being an unusual request, didn't it?

MUELLER: Yes.

DAVIS : Did you take notes and memorialize your conversation with Mr. Comey, at that point?

MUELLER: I don't -- no, at that point, I did not.

DAVIS: At some point, did you memorialize your conversations regarding this visit with Mr. Comey?

MUELLER: I may have, yes.

DAVIS: Do you still have those notes?

MUELLER: Yes.

(And later...)

DAVIS: But you did speak with Mr. Ashcroft after the conversation that he had with Mr. Card and Mr. Gonzales. Is that right?

MUELLER: I did.

DAVIS: . . . Did you make any notes regarding your conversation with Mr. Ashcroft?